How I Write 2nd Drafts

I don’t usually talk about rewrites.

Why is this? It couldn’t possibly be because I HAVE A HORRIBLE HABIT OF NOT POLISHING WHAT I START, could it?

No, of course not. I am a wonderful example of everything a writer should aspire to be.

I’m currently rewriting a book I wrote in 2013: called Six.

It’s YA sci-fi: about friends who hate each other (typical) and slavery and boxing and Greek planets and tzatziki dip and crackers. (Which you should admire me for, because you know how much I’ve struggled with spelling the word “tzatziki”? It goes against all logic and yet there it is: yogurty and cucumber Greek deliciousness.)

This time last year (12 of June in 2013, I might add, which is very weird that I felt like writing this post now) I wrote a post about how I go about writing a 1st draft. It’s only fair that 2nd drafting gets a post, right?

How Cait writes 2nd Drafts

Step 1: Decide which book is getting beheaded.

This is harder than it sounds! I really wish I could write and rewrite depending on what I’m passionate about — but if I did that? I’d never finish anything. I pick a book. I stick with it. Even if we get 50% in and hate each other.

Six got picked because it’s the book I had the most fun writing. I also based the annoying side-kick off Mime, so I want it to be tidy so she can read it. (Ha! I’m kidding, Mime! Don’t freak out!)

Step 2: Make a goal.

I like goals. I like the shattering sound they make as I overtake them. I’m a little bit of an over-achiever at times, so I make my goals reasonable — so I can pass them.

My goal for rewriting Six is: 1 chapter every. single. day.

That’s crazily hard, actually. What about weekends? What about Mondays? Agh, who likes Mondays?!

Step 3: DO NOT WRITE FAST. DO NOT COLLECT $200 DOLLARS. WRITE SLOW OR GO TO JAIL.

This is hard. This is really, really, really, really hard.

I write a 1st draft in 2 weeks. 5K a day. Party in my brain. Woot, woot. But for 2nd drafts? It’s about being careful which means being painfully sloooooow. I put myself on fast-mode-ban. NO SPEEDING.

This has negative side effects like: “when will I be finished this stupid story already?” and “how did the book start again?” I do have a memory like swiss cheese. (But it makes rereading my own books fun because I get to go, “Oh! That was a good plot twist, didn’t see that coming.” And I’ll be entirely honest with myself while saying that.)

Step 4: Sticky notes. Sticky notes everywhere.

Most of my sticky notes are stuck on my the home screen of my Mac (I love the stick note feature). A lot of them look like this:

This is how I combat my bad memory. Notes on who’s who and what’s what and if anyone needs a hi-five in the face with a chair (can’t miss opportunities like that). Also, because my planets are based of Greek things, I have a list of Greek words that I use.

Like: Coffee = kafés

That is awesome knowledge.

Which brings me to…

Step 5: Have a whole beautiful document for research!

Research! Yay! I hate research. There are reasons I write fantasy, you know. If you mess up on the research part, you can still show your face in public. Not that I go out in public all that much, but you get the idea.

Six used to rely very heavily on ancient Rome, but SOMEONE SLAP ME if I ever write a book that resembles The Hunger Games. I refuse. While Six is nothing like The Hunger Games (no one even likes each other in this book) I wanted to cut out all things Rome.

How to make it different?– I used Greek culture to build my planets.– I changed gladiator style fighting to ancient boxing (called “pyx” in Greek, I’ll have you know. What? You can’t research all this stuff and not SHARE it!)– Do you know how violent ancient Greek boxing is?– Heck! They didn’t have boxing gloves, obviously, but they wrapped their fists in spiked leather. That’s not even nice. It’s really really mean, actually.

Currently my “research doc” is 5,000-words of research. A lot of it is copy-and-pasted information about Ancient Greek Boxing from the Internet. A lot of it is me filching names from famous Greek philosophers. (“Sappho” is an awesome name.)

Step 6: Save old book. Then re-type every. single. sentence.

This is how I do 2nd drafts, peoples! My screen looks like this:

Except, you know, zoomed in and with 1-page on the screen not 4.

I turn the entire manuscript red and then start again in black. I delete the red sentences as I work through them.

It’s very advanced, this method. I like to call it: The Cait Doesn’t Know What She’s Doing Method. I hear it’s quite popular in my house.

I also add when I’m drafting. Six was 60,000-words and I’d love to get it to 70,000. But in probability? It’ll probably be just under. I’m totally fine with that! I like thin books!

Step 7: Fret.

Fretting and worrying and moaning and crying are all huge parts of my 2nd draft process. I like to beat myself over the head with these helpful questions:

– am I deleting the wrong scenes?– is this even funny?– are they eating enough/too much?– is this even funny?– is it just me or is this guy freakishly annoying?– axe him.– oh gosh, what if I shouldn’t have axed him?– what if I never think up a better title and it must stay dorky “Six” forever?!!

Basically I’m all angst and worry and self-doubt and it’s a glorious party. I highly enjoy it of course.

Step 8: Lie about everything else.

I’m of the opinion that writers are professional liars.

That’s it right there. Summed up quite well!

I’m a professional liar.

If I hit a problem in my draft…I lie about it. I lie confidentially and no one will ever know the different.

(But I also get critique partners and test my lies out on them, and if they wrinkle their noses or [please no] call me Pinnochio, then I fix the lie so it’s worse-and-therefore-better.)

Step 9: Location, location.

I’m sure you imagine me sitting at a very nice desk, swivelling on my office chair, because I’m 1/3 of the way to being a Real Live Author (as opposed to a Real Dead Author I guess). But a) it’s cold, and b) I have a very comfy bed to sit on.

Or else, because my room is a regular freezer in winter, I sneak into Mime’s room. Mime has a huge bed and a sunny window and once I toss her useless stuff around and make way for me, it’s perfect. She doesn’t even notice! (I think.)

Although she does accuse me of hiding her fingerless gloves, but that’s ridiculous. I would never.

Step 10: Invent 62 million NEW story ideas in head.

There’s nothing like rewriting for getting me inspired for other books. Since starting Six, I’ve had 8 new story ideas. Most are just premises, but a few have plots, characters, the works.

This is incredibly unfair. WHY CAN’T THESE IDEAS COME LATER? Mid-project? No. Go away. I have no time. After-project? Why yes, I’ll welcome them with open arms.

Of course, by that time, they’re just sad little sentences on my iPod that no longer wish to share their magic with me.

Well, there you have it. All my 2nd draft secrets are spilt.

This is just rewriting though, not editing. My editing process is similar (but less typing and more chocolate).

And because it amuses me, although I am easily amused I admit: I will most likely be interviewing one of the characters from Six for my post on the Beautiful People linkup. (Which is open until the end of the month if you want to still link up!)

tell me your 2nd draft secrets. do we have any similar steps? do you use any programs like Scrivener or just randomness like me? AND tell me: do you add or cut when you’re rewriting?

Cait has an Apple. She hoped you noticed. It is a delightful Apple with knowledge and skills far beyond her previous PC. But since she has greasy little fingers, she bought an orange casing for it. So, no matter what anyone tells you: you CAN look good in prison orange. She’s currently reading AS STARS FALL.

Comments

I'm currently writing a second draft at the moment, too! First off, I usually use Scrivener to write my second drafts. It's just so much easier to have your research in the same document as your actual novel. Also: it has a split-screen option, which I am totally in love with. <3 I both add *and* delete when I rewrite. I think mostly it's adding. More often than not I change the beginning because I can never seem to get to get those pesky beginnings right. As I'm writing high fantasy I'm also focusing a lot more on world-building than I did in my first draft, because as I realised, I knew next to nothing about the world I was writing. It was worth spending the time to write out the history, government, place names and whatnot so I could write the second draft easier. But we actually have a similar method of second drafts. :)And tzatziki is seriously delicious. <3

I saw Scrivener on sale once and I was sorely tempted…because SPLIT SCREEN. I used to have a laptop that was wide-enough for two word docs side-by-side…but now? Nope. I ALWAYS change my beginnings too!! They're the killers, they really are. And I'll rewrite my first sentence 52 billion times looking for that "perfect" one. I suck at world building…which is weird since I wrote mostly fantasy. 😉 I'm ordering my worlds in Six…trying to make them less random. HA. Fingers crossed that it works.

Urghh, I hate Mondays too :/ Anyone that likes them should be shot with rock salt in my opinion x) I'm pretty sure everyone knows you dislike fingerless gloves strongly (I don't like them either, I mean, WHERE'S THE OTHER HALFS?!?!?! I'VE BEEN CHEATED!!!) so it's pretty basic knowledge that you hide them (don't blame you) XDTut, tut, I can see your Pinnochio nose from here in NZ (although, typically, NZ isn't that far from Ozzie so I guess it isn't TO big a lie XD)! 😛

ROCK SALT. IS THAT A REFERENCE? I THINK IT'S A SPN REFERENCE.I don't really dislike fingerless gloves!! I mean, they're cool…but pointless. And I promise, cross-my-hear I did NOT take them. I'm being wrongly accused. Fetch the jury. *hides Pinnochio nose*

Hey. Mondays aren't all bad, so don't hit me please. The new Blimey Cow videos come out on Mondays. So they aren't as awful as they used to be. *peeking through my arms to make sure no rock salt is heading for my face* 🙂

You reminded me of tzatziki! I used to love that glorious substance! Thank you Cait!Wow, I'm actually really impressed by the throughness of your editing/drafting process, and now I'm thinking I shouldn't've put "Wow" at the beginning of that sentence because it seems like I'm definitely saying "gosh Cait, I totally underestimated how much effort you'd put into your work" which is NOT what I meant, just Wow in the sense that it's such an interesting process to me and totally unlike what I do. I think it's fantastic, but sounds like such hard work.My method, because I'm sure that's what you're wanting to know now (*tra-la!*) is that I put my work on the computer once I've written it and do a light edit then, then I read through the whole thing and do a big edit by hand, print it and make notes ect. Then I read through it again, a while later, and edit again on the computer, changing sentences and wording and whole sections, then print and hand edit again. Right now I've just shared my work for first critiques ever, which was nervewracking and thrilling, and I'm working on some more changes (the amount of huge overhauls I do…) alongside some of the comments from my first feedback-giver. If you haven't before, I can't recommend reading aloud your whole manuscript enough- it makes it real and you see how it all flows and it's just really, really helpful.Do you have critique partners, Cait, if you don't mind my asking?

Like I said, tzatziki is seriously under used. UNTIL ME. MWAHAHA. I love Greek food all of a sudden.But now, seriously, tut-tut, you ARE surprised I put this much thought into it. Frankly I am too. OMG, it's like I actually don't dash through this process fangirling and throwing gifs. I AM SERIOUS. I AM VULCAN. I AM WONDERFUL. <– private pep talk to myself to keep going. Did I ever mention how much rewriting burns my braincells? It does. Consider me burnt.I like your method! It sounds sensible. I'm particularly jealous of the printing part…I would looove to hold my book in my hand. Oh aren't critiques SCARY though?!!I do have a few CPs…not many. Mostly because I can't keep up with swap-editing. -_- What do I do with my time? That's what I want to know…read ARCs? Pfft. I'm sad. 😉

As you know, I'm rewriting The Daisy List *cries* It's not going well, since I'm so busy at the moment. But in the holidays I am going to SQUASH IT. And then I'm going to do Camp NaNoWriMo for Wanderland (EEEEEEEEEEE *runs around in circles excitedly*). I like the idea of changing everything to red and rewriting it. I try NOT to look at my first draft because it's kind of scary how bad it is. Although sometimes I refer to it if I can't remember what a person's name was (I even forget main characters sometimes). I absolutely hate rewriting. First drafts are much more fun. But I like reading back my second drafts, so that's a plus 😀 I can't wait to see your post on one of your characters from Six! IT SOUNDS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. Tzatziki is definitely a hard word to spell, though. 🙂

There, there, it'll happen. (It'd better happen. NOPE THAT WAS NOT A THREAT. But I do need to know….) Is Camp NaNo in July?! JULY IS COMING REALLY FAST. I'm editing in July. MORE EDITING. Hopefully I'll have finished Six in like…a week or so. Hopefully. Probably not. But I have unrealistic expectations for fun.

For me, it depends on the book and how painful the drafting process was. I actually like rewiting better than drafting, much like I prefer going down one of the familiar paths in the woods where I already have most of the prickervines out of the way as apposed to plunging into a trail that has those prickervines. In fact, part of my drafting process is to write so much, and then start over.As I said, it depends on the book, but I tend to be rather organized with a rewrite, having even go as far as to write up a basic outline in the form of a chapter list. Some books I upload to my kindle (if I didn't handwrite them, as I've been doing lately) and retype it into a new word document and edit as I go. With some books, I edit by chapter, reading over what I had written the first time so I don't forget all of the best lines and where it needs to end up (although doing this can get very painful towards the end of the process), and just writing the story better, digging deeper into the characters and the world, hinting at twists that I hadn't seen the first time.I'm actually in the process of rewriting three books at the moment, and thoroughly enjoying every single one of them.Good luck to you, Cait!

I honestly don't know what I prefer…rewriting or first drafting. First drafting I allow myself to be wild and crazy. WHICH, I WON'T LIE, IS AWESOME. But rewriting takes the pressure of inventing. I just have to fix. I always do a complete reread of the 1st draft before I begin writing. Usually on my kindle. Good luck with doing 3 books at once though! I can't imagine keeping my brain focused on that many things!!! You must have a super good memory, right?!!

My kindle is a HUGE part of my rewriting process, which is why, when I upgraded, I sprang for the DX so that I kept the keyboard (I was using a second gen).Yes, I actually do have a pretty good memory when it comes to my writing. And I write best when I multitask. Not only am I rewriting those three books (Although only one of those three has actually been finished, the other two are in the "I have discovered where I want this book to go, so let's start over and write towards that goal" stage of my writing process. The one that has been finished, I've finished it four times. But I'm calling it the sixth draft because there were two half-drafts in there somewhere.), but I have seven first drafts projects pulled up on my computer (and one in a notebook beside me) and I've been tapping away at them. And believe it or not, I very rarely get these stories mixed up. Forget a plot element, yes (hey, wait, I gave this characters glasses, then never mention them again …), have a character briefly walk into the wrong story in a bout of writer's block, yes, (but I usually edit those out immediately, as it is usually to release some pressure off of my brain by allowing me to write some nonsense about a more favorite character) but actual mixups don't happen very often. All of my stories have a slightly different feel to them, and it's hard to translate the feel of one book into another. If that makes any sense …

I'm hiding from a second draft right now, so I don't feel like I should be reading this post or it will KNOW and shame me. . . but I'm reading it anyway. This is such a great post, though! I loved reading it. My second drafts go something like this:1. Make an outline of how draft #1 turned out2. Make an outline of how I would like draft two3. Make scene cards for every. single. scene. in order.4. Cry.5. Make an outline for each important character's story.6. Nap.7. Rewrite. . . scene by scene. In order. I can't jump around. 8. Sob some more and watch Supernatural instead

I DON'T WANT TO SHAME YOU. This is my first like rewrite of the year…It's June. I feel like a slacker. (I've drafted a few firsts and edited a book…but this is where the real heads roll, if you know what I mean….okay. That was a weird illustration, but I'm replying late at night so let's blame it on that, yes?)Scene cards?! THAT'S COOL. I've always wanted to do that…but frankly? I'm not sure I'd be focused enough. I like step #6 though. I do that a lot. And also step #8. I mostly do that too. So #6 and #8 is my ideal writing process, but weirdly enough I don't get a lot done…

Wow. I'm very good at steps 7 and 10. SO MUCH FUN. (Please note the sarcasm there.) And I don't like research, either.I actually just finished rewriting a book in May (Or maybe it was April…). I think the book came out much better for my sweat and tears (mostly tears) and I learned a lot about how to and how not to edit.Good luck with rewriting! *hands Cait chocolate*~Robyn

You? Sarcastic? NO NEVER I DON'T BELIEVE IT.I learn a lot about myself when I edit and rewrite. Like a) guacamole actually does help me write better, and b) I am a horrible procrastinator. Like REALLY horrible. Like, I even clean my room instead of write sometimes…*gobbles chocolate*

When someone suggested my YA book would be better as a Middle Grade, I started from page one and rewrote the whole thing. I used the same characters, but it was just easier. I think I pulled over some chunks! I get a headache with rewriting! I think sometimes it feels a bit too left-brained for me, if that makes sense. Like reengineering an entire piece of work. I'm rewriting an article for a client where he gave me the wrong information up front, so the whole thing has to be restructured and it's seriously giving me a headache! I like structure and when I have to take an existing work and try to restructure it, the chaos period of doing that work makes me very uncomfortable!

Second draft? What's that? I have zero motivation right now so I'm trudging along very slowly. I'm jealous of your cute computer, honestly. Currently my editing is editing other people's writing and trying to not be snarky about it.Also, Sappho was a Greek who wrote poetry about lesbian desiiiire, in case you didn't know that already. I think she was pretty awesome, but y'know.

I'm still in first draft (and really need to get back to writing it… shhh), but I'll have to remember these tips for when I go back for the second draft! I have no idea how to use the post it note on macs though. I bought this computer six months ago and still don't know half the things it's capable of 😛 By the way – I would murder myself if I had to spell that word all the time.

Thanks for these tips, Cait 😉 I haven't written a book yet, but I plan to do so in the future when I'm done with my fanfics! These are brilliant and I actually have been wondering about the process of revising. I see a lot of tweets about it from other bloggers and they really sound like they're in pain or something so this really helps. Hopefully the journey is less insufferable when I get there *cringe*Faye at The Social Potato Reviews

Haha! Good luck with second drafting, it sounds like a complex headache! I can't wait for you to get more second drafts done, then you might get more confident about sharing some of it with us! I WANT TO SEE 🙂 🙂 🙂 The sticky note feature is dangerous, my whole desktop is just FULL of them and half of them aren't even anything important at all.

Dis post was funneh. Dis post made me giggle. Dis post. Yep. ANYWAY, seeing as I'm not really a writer myself…. ( I go on random splurges that are pretty much results of angst and hormones, and are never *ever* to be viewed by other eyes.) I can't understand COMPLETELY. BUT because I am an artist. (AAAAAHHAA lol. Yeah. I'm not an artist. I'm… I don't even know what I am. I'm a not-artist who hopes one day that people will maybe not hate her drawings) I can apply your process to drawing and shadowing and editing pictures, so YES. dis post. lol. That is all. No, wait, I didn't make a reference.BOBBY. There I made a reference. NOW that is all.

I like to write on my bed too. It's so much more comfortable.I haven't had much chance to edit second drafts (I usually read my first draft and think, "This is a horrible story! Let me write a different one.") but I'm interested in your idea of rewriting every single sentence. I might try it in my next editing session.

It's been about a year and I still have not even finished my first draft! Let alone editing it. Well, I have edited pieces here and there because they were driving me crazy! The title for my story still isn't even decided either! I'm even thinking about different character names! I just wish that it could be one draft and done.Carly

Hahaha Cait you make me giggle. I can't wait to read one of your books so I can giggle some more.Ps. As for that note on my iphone about the story with the dance move and the kids in the place with the thing and the other people… It's going to be brilliant, really, I swear, as soon as I can remember… :/

5k words a day?! What the heck are you, Cait? Some sort of superhuman? (Don't deny it–I know you are!) Anyway, I haven't finished a book yet since new ideas pop out every single time I get past a chapter and I write those down until a chapter and the cycle goes on and on! Good luck with the one you're working on now–I sincerely hope your brain doesn't explode because we still need it here in the blogosphere.

Agh, I SO feel for you here…100%. It drives me bonkers half the time. Like if I take out a scene and put it somewhere else? I get seriously confused. (But seriously, go you for taking that jump rewriting a whole book to make it MG. That would take serious brain powers) XD

My computer is adorable and also my life. I love it so very much. heeeey, but at least you are still getting experience editing! And it's actually easier to see the problem with someone else's book then your own. -_- Frustrating fact of life. Bahaha! I knew Sappho wrote poetry. 😉 lol Most of my names are of politicians and philosophers and writers.

I've been using my mac for about…mm…a year. Seriously, I discover new things ALL THE TIME. It's a freakishly smart computer. But just cruise through your applications. The Sticky Note feature is like always there. IT IS AWESOME. I leave notes to myself all the time. *whispers* Spellcheck saves my life.

Ha! YES. We are most definitely in pain. I think the more you "know" the harder it is, actually, because your brain is trying to rewrite with all the thousands of tips that you've discovered over the years. And it's hard to keep it all together or #mindblown. It's a real thing.

*smacks you for mentioning Bobby* No no no no no. Also: I'm glad it was slightly amusing. 😉 I TRY. I REALLY DO. Oh gosh, though, I know how you feel about random splurges and you feel like, "Nope, this will never be seen by anyone" and it gets buried and is quite embarrassing. YOU ARE TOO AN ARTIST. YOU ARE A FABULOUS ARTIST.

Bed is so dang comfy. I'm curled up right now, thumping my keyboard and basically procrastinating from facing my book. ;)Ah! I think that too! That's why I have so, so so many drafts lying around. I always feel like the next story "could" be better…then it ends up worse. xD

UGH. TITLES. I really really hate calling my book "Six". I mean, come on. Generic much?? But try as I might I cannot come up with anything better. I had an inkling of a thought yesterday but forgot it before I got to paper. >_<

Well, I haven't actually finished the first draft of my first novel yet, so I've never rewritten a book. However, I am bookmarking this page for when I do start to rewrite my book. I think I'll combine both your method and a method I've heard of on the Go Teen Writers blog to rewrite my novel. Also, on a side note, for some reason when I first heard of rewriting on Go Teen Writers, I thought that it meant that an author actually sat down and rewrote the whole book from scratch after they finished figuring out the story in the first draft. That whole idea kind of scared me away from editing. Then, I realized that rewriting probably wasn't what I thought it was. I figured it was more of a line-by-line edit, but thanks for clarifying it for me with this post.

Oh, take Go Teen Writers advice over mine aaaany day. lol They actually know what they're talking about! (I love that blog. SO much info there and the ladies behind it are sooo nice.) Rewriting can be scary. I think you have to get to a point where you're prepared to hack up your own work. Get in and do what needs to be done, eh? I NEVER used to rewrite. Like, if I didn't get it perfect in the first draft, I abandoned it. I've progressed a bit…I'm happy to fix my stuff now. 😉

Well, at least you finish your first draft! I've been working on a YA sci-fi book for about two years now and I haven't even made it till the end because I'm just such a perfectionist. I write, take a break for a couple of months, then return, and find what I've written so far stupid and delete it and rewrite it again from the start. This has actually happened a couple of times, I must admit, so I get practically nowhere with my writing. 🙁 It's something I'm trying to change, though. And yay for having a whole document of research! (Not really.) I do pretty much the same, except I have two. One is devoted to the whole synopsis of my book, and the other one is character profiles, world info, and other minor stuff that appear in the book. You're pretty organized, by my standards; even though I have two documents, I pretty much put everything and anything that pops into mind about the book into them. I just trust ctrl+F to find everything I need, haha! But thanks for sharing, Cait! Who knows, I might take some advice from here to help me finish my book. Might come in handy. 😉

I KNOW HOW THAT FEELS! If I ever came to a problem in a book, I used to start. from. the. beginning. Ohhh, my aching skull. I have no idea how I did that. I was SUCH a perfectionist. Now I'm more like a recovering perfectionist. >.> I still freak out when my betas read my book, though, because I feel like there are too many mistakes. ctrl + F = the saving-ness of my life.

Man, rewriting. I am currently working my way through my first novel … so that process is far in the future! Currently writing my Beautiful People post – and looking forward to yours! :DPS 50k in per day??? A novel in two weeks??? I applaud you, madam. I will have been working on my WIP for a year come 1st of July … !!

I love your process. 🙂 I haven't rewritten anything novels yet,unfortunately. But I'll get there. Is it bad that while writing the first draft, I'm already thinking about the scenes that need to get cut/added, the names that need to be changed/decided on, the people who need to die/live, was that really funny or just lame and the eternal sentence that insists on being the most pathetic statement in all writing history?Your book, Six, sounds awesome! Greek planets. Greek boxing. Yes! I am curious. Spikes on boxing wraps? Does sound over the top painful. The Greeks always did seem brutal with a dramatic flair. Warfare + Imagination = Dangerous combination.

Oh, I don't think that's bad! I think that's organise! (Do you write them all down?? So you remember? I would forget so fast!)Agh, the Greeks are really violent. I thought that was a Roman thing. But nooooo. Greeks = not very nice.

Heh, heh. . . no, I'm not an organized person. Occasionally I'll make notes. . . there is supposedly a document that has big, important changes on it, uh, somewhere. Though some things just nag me so I scroll to the beginning of a scene and type something like, "Hello! There was supposed to be a horse in this scene! And where did the backpack disappear too?"

I envy your speed and focus with your first drafts! I tend to work on several projects at once, so it takes me a few months (at least) to finish anything. Also, I'm a perfectionist, and I don't like editing very much at all (a weird combination, I know). So I like to get the first draft as "perfect" as possible so I don't have to edit a ton as I would if I just got my first draft down on the paper without worrying about anything like that. 😛 I'm working on it!

Weirdly enough, I find it's easier to write so fast, because then I get breaks where I don't have to write at all. x) I like that quote that says "I hate writing, I love having written". That's me a lot!!I quit on perfect drafts years ago. I let them be as sloppy and awful as possible. I basically write as badly but as fast as I can…and it works for me. 😉

I AM AN EVIL SUPERVILLAIN. THANK YOU FOR ASKING. (I wouldn't deny it. Come now! I'm always honest and truthful.) Don't worry…hehe, I have about 8 new book ideas in like one month and aghhh, the brain just wants to chase them all. 😉

This is so awesome! I used to write all the time but stopped because I couldn't finish anything ever, ha. Rewriting just seems so daunting and scary. I almost never even look over my reviews D: Love your methods though xD Whoever invented the sticky note feature is either a genius or a devil. Who needs an actual desktop wallpaper when you can load your screen up with sticky notes?

Step 6 there is really interesting. Might have to try that sometime. I've only gone through one second draft yet, so I think I'm going to try something new for the next one…Also, YES. YES. STEP 10–YOU'RE RIGHT, WHY DO ALL THE IDEAS COME MID-STORY FOR OTHER BOOKS. WHYYYYYYYYY *moans*…It has been a very long time since I last looked at your blog, I suppose…it has changed rather dramatically since then. o.O It's nice, though! Very cool.